These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.

Grateful

We are so grateful for our wonderful trip to Eastern Europe: Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Poland. Amidst the beautiful churches and architecture the lasting effects of human aggression and war can still be seen and sadly continue to occur in Ukraine. Our visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau (where over a million people were systematically put to death) was the most profound and disturbing part of this journey. But the wonderful people we met and our visits to the shrines of the Infant of Prague and Our Lady of Częstochowa reminded us that God is greater than the worst we humans can do and that we all have a duty of care for one another especially for the most vulnerable. Everywhere we saw signs of hope for humanity: at the Holocaust memorial in Warsaw next to the Polish banner were the banners of Ukraine and of the Rainbow.